Guide & Guardian
by AngelCeleste85
Summary: Christine's deceased father has a few things to say about what happened between his daughter and the man called Erik...


Guide and Guardian by AngelCeleste85  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own "PTO." I never have, and never will, own Erik, Raoul, Christine, or any of the other characters that appear in other authors' versions of the story of the Phantom of the Opera. The only things I can make any claim to are the workings of my own imagination with the material that other artists have given to me in their music and their stories, and the occasional incidental characters that truly *are* mine (none in this story). Therefore I am *not* making money off of this.  
  
Blame: All on my own shoulders this time. This Phic is dedicated to my own guardian angels, to my guides who are so very patient with me and so helpful (everything from sending me dreams to helping me find my glasses, and then some!), and to Israfel, the real Angel of Music, who has touched my life in more ways than I suspect yet I think. Also to Archangel Michael and Archangel Gabriel (who plays the trumpet), both of you have done so much for me over the time I've known you that I am always and forever in awe of you and of the love you carry! Thank you all, and please know that I wrote this for you to show you that I do appreciate everything you've done for me in the years I've lived. I love you, and blessings!  
  
Setting: Immediately after Christine takes her leave of Erik, post-ALW version. Place is irrelevant, you'll find out why.  
  
Spoilers: None. This isn't a happy phic, but not a mucho angst-fest like "Invincible" was! I trust you'll enjoy this one as it's from a unique point of view... For once this is *not* a songphic!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Guide and Guardian by AngelCeleste85  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
You know, I did tell Christine that I would send her the Angel of Music.  
  
At the time, I just didn't know how right I was!  
  
I've always loved Christine and tried to do my best by her even when we didn't have much money, and she missed me terribly once I wasn't there to physically put her arms around anymore. My passing hit her hard: I think it was hard for her to bear any kind of music after that. It's the only reason I can come up with for her nearly abandoning music altogether. That nearly broke my heart.  
  
When I made her the promise that I'd ask the Angel of Music to go to her, I didn't realize that he was right there and heard. Not Erik, of course, he didn't know my little girl existed. I mean the Archangel Israfel, who carries that title.  
  
Christine owes Mamma Valerius for taking her in, nobody else could have, and for keeping her interested enough in music to enter into the Conservatoire at the Opera Garnier, if just barely. I stood at her side watching that audition and had I still had a body I would have cried: she sings so much better than that.  
  
You could say I've become her guardian angel: it's far from unheard-of, some people do have more than one, and as such, I have some latitude to help her out. Though we're usually called "guardians," perhaps a better word is "companions." Companion angel: guide and guardian, and a great deal more besides. Like any guardian angel, I need to be asked for specific help because of the free will humans have (we don't interfere with that, regardless) but she did that the night I first found out about the resident Phantom of the Opera. I recognized the touch of the Angel of Music when I heard it. Also saw the hands of the sisters of Wyrd at work, I didn't have to do all that much to arrange their meeting.  
  
Please understand that I *was* Christine's father and as long as she draws breath in this lifetime I consider myself her father still: I love my daughter like nothing else in the universe and would never bring or want to see harm come to her. And no guardian angel would ever deliberately harm their human charge. Unfortunately, humans tend to make quite a mess of that free will (I should know) by not asking for help, and frequently misinterpret the help they get. Whether or not there was a chance for romance between Christine and her friend Erik was irrelevant when they were brought together: the matter at hand was that each could teach the other something that they needed to learn then. You see, at any given time, everyone is both a student and a teacher whether they realize it or not.  
  
Erik's lessons to Christine were more than just music (and trust me, Israfel was there and actively involved with every last one of them). When I sang about "Little Lotte thought of everything and nothing," it was a statement about Christine that I could not have made openly: her concerns, because I had sheltered her perhaps a bit too much, were of the little things in life, but she at that time thought that they were all there was. Erik toughened my little Lotte, made her face some harsh truths about life and maybe later, when she can understand better, she will continue to learn lessons about herself from Erik. He taught her to grow and develop her own mind, for a mind is the most valuable gift any human has (but don't take my word for it), though the lesson was long and painful to both teacher and student. Under his teaching, Little Lotte grew from a charmingly naive little girl into a young woman who has the makings of something truly formidable coming together now.  
  
But Christine did *not* take from Erik without giving in return as so many think she did, though her gifts were not so tangible as musical knowledge. From her, Erik learned compassion, which is different from pity, and how to place another before oneself without bitterness for the self-sacrifice. She also taught him the value of self-analysis, and the danger of it. Christine gave joy and light, if only for a few moments, to someone who desperately needed a chance to cry openly.  
  
I do not defend her actions, I do not judge them either, that's not my place. The living have free will. You do what you will with it. Sometimes it hurts other people to do what you feel you must. Erik may yet pass on, but what is seen as an end is really only the beginning. If he does cross over, he may have the chance to join me as a guardian angel to Christine. I'd like that, myself, but I think he has much still to learn. If pride will not let them return to one another, there are many others in this world whom each can meet who can teach similar lessons, or perhaps other sets will be presented to them. A guardian angel is always incredibly busy! I am so very proud of Christine and love her very much, she has had a rough row to hoe and has done very well with it. She's also made her bed and the consequences have yet to be fully realized by her, but she has developed the backbone she needed. And that with be Erik's enduring legacy to her, as well.  
  
Farewell to you, gentle soul, and carry angels' blessings in your heart!  
  
- Stephen Daae  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Israfel is the celestial Angel of Music, if I have my angelology right. The sisters of Wyrd are the Norse counterparts of the three goddesses known to the Greeks and the Romans as the Fates or the Moerae: Clotho (who spins the thread of a life), Lachesis (measures said threads and weaves them together) and Atropos (who cuts the thread). Nemesis (who sees to it that all good and all evil are justly repaid, another name for her might be Karma), is often seen as a fourth sister, but never really seen as one of the Fates herself. 


End file.
